Monkey's Pathfinder RPG

Kingdom of Lihan

A broken land of ruined towns, blackened fields and crumbling castles. Once ruled by the Lich King, following the Scarlet War of ten years ago it is now a wasteland of haunted towns. The Raven Queen has sent many crusaders here to purge the lingering undead, but progress is slow as even some innocent souls cling to the shadow of life they have left. In some places, the undead and the living work side-by-side, carrying out the basic routines of life in the haunted hollows of this blighted land. Surviving Lihanese are extremely hardy due to the taxing conditions of their homeland.

Government: Competing noble houses, with the occasional monarch.
Current Ruler: Naverrese-backed noble alliance
Common Qualities: Tenacious, fearless, pragmatic, dedicated, fatalistic.
Origin Benefit: +1 origin bonus to Will and Fortitude saves.
Languages: Lihanin, special. Lihanese do not receive a free racial dialect or bonus human language, but can see and hear ghosts, wraiths and other intangible undead from dusk to dawn. This “spirit sight” has an effective range of 100’ in most instances, limited by actual visibility. In addition, a Lihanese character receives an automatic (secret) Perception check whenever an undead being crosses into this range. Success means that they receive an instinctive “cold” feeling that there are undead nearby.
Bonus Languages: Nationals (any), Infernal, Tribe, Ignan. Ashtongue is available, but only Evil characters, necromancers or others with undead affinity of some kind may select it during character creation.

Origin Feats

Cold One [Origin]
During the Scarlet War, many Lihanese legionnaires learned the hard way how to battle necromancy and the undead legions of the Lich King. Eventually a brutal but effective process of elaborate mystic tattoos and strict conditioning arose that rendered soldiers resistant to necromantic energy and capable of dispatching undead with merciless efficiency. As a result, they have a heightened resistance to negative energy and an uncanny ability to battle the undead. Lihanese natives call such individuals “Cold Ones”, a moniker that reflects their brutal efficiency in combat as well as the characteristic emotional and spiritual withdrawal that accompanies their conditioning. Prerequisite: Level 5th+; Lihanese nationality, elaborate tattoos representing various wards against evil, death and possession. Must be Good or Neutral; Evil characters cannot take this Feat, and characters who take this Feat and become Evil later lose all benefits from it.
Benefit: The character receives a +2 origin bonus on all saves against necromantic spells, as well as any spells and spell-like effects generated by evil undead. They also ignore a number of negative levels gained from undead attacks per day equal to their Constitution modifer (minimum 1), are immune to possession by undead creatures, and do not rise as spawn if slain by undead. They gain a +2 insight bonus on attack and damage against the undead, and treat masterwork weapons as magic for purposes of bypassing damage reduction. Their “spirit sight” range doubles. Lastly, delivering a coup de grace to an undead foe is only a standard action and does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
At 10th level, these bonuses increase to +4, and the Constitution modifier doubles for the purposes of resisting negative levels (minimum 2). In addition, once per day they may apply a temporary tattoo to a number of other characters equal to their Wisdom modifier (minimum 1), rendering them immune to undead possession and rising as spawn for six hours. This process requires materials costing 25 gold per person and takes 30 minutes to complete (each). Lastly, their “spirit sight” improves to 500’.
Drawback: Cold Ones are aptly named. As a result of their conditioning, they do not receive the usual +3 bonus for being trained in the following skills: Diplomacy, Animal Handling, Perform, or Professions related to interpersonal skills (such as Actor, Bartender or Barrister). They also may not use these skills untrained, even if they would normally be allowed to do so.

Stopped Heart [Origin]
Through vile and occult means, your blood carries some of the properties of the undead – perhaps your parents were subjected to the Lich King’s vile experiments, or maybe you were used as part of a necromantic dark ritual. Whether due to a close brush with death or perhaps even active experimentation, you have activated this sinister heritage. While not truly one of the undead yourself, you share certain qualities with the unquiet dead, allowing you certain advantages at the cost of some unsettling traits.Prerequisite: Level 6th+; Lihanese nationality. If you are of Good alignment, you no longer receive extra benefits from leveling your favored class, due to internal conflict over your transformation, and you might have some ‘splaining to do if you’re a devout class such as a cleric, paladin, etc.
Benefit: You receive darkvision 60’ – if you already have darkvision, simply add this to your existing range. You may also add your Constitution score – not your bonus, the whole score – to the number of minutes you can hold your breath. Provided you are aware enough to react, you may ignore gas attacks and other hazardous vapors automatically for as long as you hold your breath. If you are reduced to –1 hit points or below, you do not bleed out like normal characters – your blood simply doesn’t flow naturally. Only additional sources of damage or immersion in a harmful medium such as fire or acid will continue to knock down your hit points. Unless they linger in the area or take special attention to see to your demise, such as delivering a coup de grace attack, enemies must pass a Perception check, DC 20, to notice that you are not dying normally. Lastly, you take only half damage from negative energy attacks on a failed save. You receive a saving throw against negative energy attacks even if one is not normally allowed, with the type and difficulty determined by the DM.
At 10th level, your darkvision doubles, and you suffer only half damage from negative energy attacks on a failed save, and none at all on a successful one. You are considered to be under the effect of a hide from undead spell at all times, as the undead easily overlook you, with your character level used to calculate the Will save DC.
Lastly, you may feign death once per week. In this state, you register as deceased to all forms of physical and magical scrutiny – while you are not immune to damage, even attacks will not break the illusion. If you are stabbed, for instance, the blood will trickle slowly as opposed to pouring out. It takes one full round to enter this trance, and a full minute to exit it. The death trance lasts until you will it to cease, though each hour beyond the first that you spend in this trance adds one minute to the time it takes to leave the trance, and in no instance can you assume this trance for more than two full days.
Drawback: You don’t heal very well naturally. All natural healing times are doubled, and those attempting to use the Heal skill on your character suffer a –10 penalty since your body simply doesn’t respond like that of a living person.